The Shadows that Echo
by Cosmic Castaway
Summary: Time is running short for CSI's Nick Stokes. Stuck between the world of the living and the dead, his only opition is to get somebody to hear him. Before his time in this world is cut off completely.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** _Tis wishful thinking that I own the characters or actors of CBS's CSI. But alas, I do not. Just have to go on fanfic fantasies to please my bleeding heart ;)._

**Warning:** _The first chapter is a very strong T for child abuse implications. _

**Author Note:** _Okay, your probably thinking…what the hell? After reading that summery but bare with me! This is my first CSI story, and I thought I'd do something a bit different then your traditional drama fanfic that I see on here, nothing wrong with them of course. I will admit this probably might be a snickers fanfic, mostly hinted moments. Honestly I have no idea going to let the story write itself lol. _

_Thanks go out to my girl Boscogirl (Jessie) for listening and reading this story for me. My muse died but some how you always spark it. ;) As to those who listen to me at Talk: CSI FanForum, complaining about every single detail, much appreciated. You guys ROCK! _

_Now enough of my inconsistent babbling, onto the story, enjoy!_

**The Shadows that Echo**

**Chapter 1**

The click of handcuffs never sounded so loud to the CSI sitting in the interrogation room. His body began pounding out adrenaline, making his heart skip faster and beat in a rhythmic fashion within his eardrums. Fist clenching in order to keep himself secured to reality. He didn't want to lose control of his emotions that were ready to boil over at any minute and make Pompeii look like a little teapot steaming.

Every instinct was telling Nick Stokes to spring from his chair and pound the living shit out of the man who called himself a human being. But as much as he desired it, nothing would change the fact of their case. You can't change the past no matter how much you wished and prayed for it.

Finding himself glaring up at the man as he was led away by Detective Brass, Nick felt no satisfaction or a sense of closure. The man had no remorse, no guilt, nothing was evident on the arrested man's face. He didn't care what he had done, and pretty much figured why should anyone else be bothered that he had.

The door slammed shut and Nick took in a deep breath and closed his eyes. Reopening them he studied the name in front of him for what felt like an eternity until the person next to him made Nick realize he wasn't alone on this.

Sara Sidle sat next to him. Both hadn't moved since the accused was taken into custody. Neither were ready to get up. For her she didn't want to see the man's face until court date. Not only that, she would have had to been an utter dense fool not to have realized Nick had taken this case very personally.

Though you are told constantly not to, it does happen more frequent then not. That was part of being a human being and speaking for the dead who had moved on from this world. The reasoning behind not wanting you to get attached, your judgment gets clouded. Mistakes start to begin and even though you solved a case a little piece of you goes into that folder as you close it. Keep doing the job like that and slowly it eats away at you till there's nothing left.

Sara almost winced physically; she had to lay off that kind of thinking. It truly got you nowhere but depressed. Looking over at Nick, she saw him staring intently at the victim's name. Letting out a forced cough hoping it would break his concentration on it. It had, for he glanced over at her with almost confusion in his eyes as though, for a split second, he had no idea where he was sitting.

"If you want to talk about it…." wetting her lips and leaving her sentence hanging. She was never good at things such as this. Sarah had time opening up herself, so asking that of somebody else to do the same was rather difficult for her.

"No, I don't think talking would help right now, but thanks."

Nick got up from the table but turned around. "You coming?" He watched as Sarah collected her belongings to follow him. As they made their way out to the parking lot to the dark car waiting for them, Nick's mind was all over the place. He knew talking wouldn't help him right now. Something like this had to be battled out in his own conscious thoughts so everything could come clear for him, to make sense of it all and to put it into words.

Though there was a big part of Nick Stokes that wanted nothing more then to confide to Sarah Sidle. She had this way of looking at him that really didn't compare to anybody else. It was as though she looked past his flesh and bones and stared right into his very soul.

Out of all his colleagues he felt at times he connected with her on a much deeper level. Not that he didn't think the world of Warrick, for all his the friends in his life that had come and gone he truly was a brother to him. Greg, Greggo, he was a little brother that Nick always felt he had to watch out for make sure Greg never got too far over his head. Then Catherine, well she was like a mother to him most of the time. Then Grissom, he still idolized him and still hoping on hope that he'd be just as good as him some day. God knew he had plenty of people to confide to. Just tonight he wanted to be alone.

Thus it was how Nick had ended up where he was at the moment. Driving ridiculously fast up into the mountains near Lake Mead. It was the one place he could go and feel at peace. No city lights to distract you from the beauty of Mother Nature and not to mention how clear the stars became when you got far enough away. It was as though he could pretend he was back in his home state of Texas and he was a kid again. With no worries only that of how he was going to fit in a full day of playing outside before nightfall fell upon the land.

He eased up on the gas knowing the roads were slick from a previous rainfall, and he didn't need to add bodily harm to the list, he had enough to think about. As he came around another turn his mind once again started to return to the young man Sara and he had found.

Nick unconsciously gripped the steering wheel tighter as the image of the naked boy's body sprawled out in the desert entered his mind. His foot pressed hard once more again on the gas pedal, pushing the engine of the vehicle once again. But a sudden blaring of a horn made him come out of his daze and Nick realized when he had taken the turn to sharply he had put his car on the other side of the road. Getting quickly back on his side just as the other car passed him, Nick knew the other driver of the vehicle was probably cursing him in every way possible. Taking that as a sure sign that his focus was not on driving but on other things, the next viewpoint on the side of the road, he pulled off and sat there.

Brandon Miller. That was the name that had been plaguing Nick for what felt like an eternity but was only for a few days. When they had found the young child, he had been without his clothes and sexually abused in every sense of the word. The bruise marks that littered the kid's body had made Nick want to punch something right at that moment, particularly the one who had done this. To have a child's last thoughts are of fear and to be suffering from physical abuse, it was enough to make Nick, or anyone for that matter, sick. Getting the flash of the young innocent soul that had left this world in his mind once more, Nick got out of his vehicle.

What had made the case twisted and made him think the world could be possibly be ending in the near future was that the father had been the one that had done these horrendous crimes. To his own flesh and blood he had done this. A parent's job was to protect his or her own at all costs, and teach them to be a good grounded morally standard human being. Nick just couldn't understand or begin to comprehend what it would take to do that to a child, especially if it was his. He'd rather die a million painful deaths, than ever bestow that onto his own.

For Nick Stokes and Sara Sidle, it didn't take them long to find out what had gone so terribly wrong to Brandon Miller. The mother had died of lung cancer and had been really nothing but a town drunk. But she had been the one that taken the hits, and when that punching bag died, he moved onto the next target, his son.

Taking a deep breath, and letting it out Nick had to let this go no matter how painful it might be. He didn't know Brandon, but still didn't make it any easier. 'No' he demanded within himself. They did their job and they had put the man who was responsible on the right track to be sent to prison. No jury was going to allow him to get away once they laid down the evidence in front of them. If the man didn't get the needle, if there was one thing to be thankful for was prisoners were relentless on those who sexually abuse kids. At least the man wouldn't have it easy, and why should he? He hadn't shown mercy on his wife or his kid.

Closing his eyes and taking a good breath of fresh air, Nick could literally feel a weight being lifted off his very soul. He felt better, content. Besides it would only be a matter of time before another case showed up that would send him up here into the mountains. But that is why he became a CSI in the first place. To speak for those who could no longer. To tell their story to the world, or to anyone who would listen long enough.

His eyes traveled down to see a rock, and he brought his foot down on it and let it sail down the steep incline. He could faintly hear it as it smashed up against the mountainside, falling on deaf ears at the bottom. Taking in one last good view, Nick then hoped into his dark Tahoe.

As he started his way down, he realized a headache was starting to put pressure behind his eyes. It was like a freight train had hit him and Nick suddenly realized how exhausted he truly was. 'Damn', he thought 'his bed sounded so good right now too.'

Up ahead he saw the lights of another car coming around the turn. Flicking his high beams off he took his foot off the gas so he could take the sharp right turn that was coming up ahead. But before he could even reach it the other vehicle made its presence known. To Nick's complete horror the other car was in his lane, coming up fast like a freight train. Time started slowing down, as though he had become a deer transfixed on the unearthly glow of the high beams coming straight at him.

Suddenly instinctively Nick snapped out of it quickly. Knowing where the car was positioned on the road, there would be no way he could eat the side of the mountain without still being in a head on collision. Everything in driving classes, to your own parents teaching you on the lawn mower when you were old enough to sit in their laps. At all costs, you avoid that head on.

It seemed to take forever, but it was only a matter of seconds as Nick decided what to do and try and save him and his car. Jerking the wheel to the left, he got into the other lane but quick reflexes could not prevent the other car from side swiping behind his rear wheel. If the other person had been a cop, it would have been a very effective PIT maneuver.

The whole idea behind a tactic such as a PIT maneuver were to stop a fleeing suspect and cause his or her vehicle to lose traction and control so they would ultimately crash. Which is exactly what the other car had done to Nick's Tahoe.

Nick had something over most fleeing criminals, he had training. When the other motorist made contact with his SUV, he tried correcting his path by then turning them quickly to the left. But the turn up ahead had him quickly reverse his tactics and turn his wheels to the right. But the pavement was still slick from the rain and at the speeds he had been previously going, Nick knew with a sudden sick of dread, he wasn't going to make this turn.

Time started slowing down once again for the CSI. He saw that he had missed the guardrail, the one thing that could have prevented him possibly from going over. Slamming on the breaks would do no good his car had to much momentum and he tightened his hands on the wheel as though this would prevent his ultimate doom.

Nick felt his stomach drop as though he was on a roller coaster, which in a lot of ways he was, but not one he wanted to be on and wanted nothing more to just get off. The first thing to hit rock was the front left side of his bumper and with the force of this, sent the back of his car up and sending the car into a deadly spiral spin.

For the most part Nick didn't hear much or feel anything. When his car hit the first rock, his head had smashed into his wheel. Then when it pivoted and started its spin, his head had smashed into the window, causing him to mostly black out through the deadly dance down the mountain. This continued only for a few seconds, as objects were flung out and Nick stayed restrained in for the journey. Then suddenly as it all had begun it stopped. The car had slammed into a large tree trunk, halting it from going further on down the mountain. It took a full fledge minute for the car to stop making sounds, as though itself was crying out for help, pained by the tumble off the cliff.

Nick opened his eyes and began looking around. Everything felt so heavy, his body, his eyelids and darkness was whispering sweet oblivion of no pain and sweetness of sleep. The only thing he could tell at the moment, the car was lying on its driver's side. As conscious slowly began to slip, Nick could only think was, 'damn, and I just washed this car.'

**TBC….**

_So hopefully I got you interested, tell me what you think ;). _


	2. Chapter 2

**Author Note:** _I want to take the time and apologize how long it has taken me just to get one single chapter out. I can't thank you people enough for keep encouraging me to continue with this story. I never imagined people would like it this much, and I can only hope you like this chapter as well. If I had known what was going to transpire, that would make me not write I'd never put the first chapter out. I do not like keeping people in suspense this long, especially poor Nick. Just waiting around for me to continue writing huh ;) _

_I am a bit angry at my computer at the moment. I had started a while back the beginning of this chapter, and of all things to happen my computer died. So I had to rewrite this, and you know how difficult that can be. I am really worried and hoping that this chapter is okay. _

_To those who left me a review, thank you so much. The shout out list, __**Moderndaydrifter, NicknGrisfan, hanily, jdcocogirl, Kadyann, Mma63, Gear's, Girl, Emily, Meg-Breanne, csifan, Deb, Bev, wapps921, Loesje, Alexis, TheEvilLeague, Ducky'sgirl4ever. **_Thank you so much also for the personal e-mails again screaming at me lol to get this in gear. This is for you guys so thank you from the bottom of my heart!!!! Now enough blabbering, on with the story.

**Chapter 2**

Nick Stokes could feel consciousness slowly coming back to him as he heard a lone owl calling in the far distance. Confusion was at the forefront of his mind, 'funny, thought the owls stayed up in the mountain,' then again anything was possible with humans taking up any piece of land that was free. Opening one eye, Nick was now even more confused for the sight he saw in front of him was that of a large tree trunk. Then reality came back to him as though cold water was dumped on his entire body.

He was in a car accident. Opening his other eye as he brought himself to sit up and then turn and look at his now wreaked Tahoe. He had been in an accident that had sent him flying over the mountain. The last memory he had was he was inside the car and it had come to a stop. 'I should be dead.' How he had been thrown from the vehicle and not died was beyond Nick, but right now he didn't want to question it. He was rather thankful.

'The other car!' He stood up quickly he had to get to it to make sure the other person was okay. They had both collided, no telling what happened to them. Hoping that they didn't meet the same fate he did, and gone off the embankment somewhere. If they did they could be in need of medical assistance and he was their only hope.

Glancing up the steep hill with all the jagged rocks he wondered if they were even still around. 'HELLO IS ANYBODY UP THERE?" He tried yelling, hoping for some kind of answer. But he was only greeted with silence. Taking one more look at his car he debated about searching for one of his flashlights he kept in there for backup but decided against it. It was probably trashed anyways from the fall.

So he slowly began making his way up the hill. It was a lot steeper then it first appeared. As he got further up he began to wonder why he wasn't feeling any pain. From a wreak like that you were bound to have some kind of scratch, some kind of blood. But there was nothing that he could see. Then again he didn't have the best lighting in the world, the moon was the only thing shining down on him, and not to mention his body was probably in shock. Adrenaline was keeping him going. So that meant he could have injuries he just wasn't feeling them at the moment. It was better he got up the mountain faster than later that way if his body did fail him, at least he'd be somewhere someone could see him.

What felt like an hour but was only a mere few minutes, Nick made his way back up the incline. He looked both ways to see if any cars were coming his way. 'Go figure, completely isolated.' Shaking his head 'Next time you get into a wreak, make sure it's downtown Vegas, that way nobody misses it!'

His heart dropped not seeing the other vehicle. 'Maybe they took off, they didn't care that they hit somebody and could have well killed me.' But as his eyes traveled down towards the road, Nick could see where his and the other one had met, and then he saw them. Dark rubber marks on the ground left by heated tires trying to stop a speeding vehicle that was going to its doom.

Quickly jogging over to where the other vehicle had gone off the mountain, he wondered what kind of scene he would be greeted with. Hoping that the other person was okay he took a second to collect his thoughts and then peered over. He was actually surprised to find a young woman climbing up the mountain already.

He turned quickly around, scanning around him hoping to find something that he could use as a rope to thrown down to her. But there was nothing available so he settled with his own hand. Reaching down he called out to her, for it was obvious she was struggling. Blood was seeping down the right side of her face, and she was letting out tiny gasps every time she made a single move.

"Here, let me help you."

But she ignored him completely. Nick was baffled by this. She just went about her business climbing up the hill slowly but effectively.

Trying again Nick spoke to the woman, "grab my hand I can help you up Ma'am."

Still nothing.

Nick's mind began to wonder if she had possibly hurt her hearing, the force of the blow on her ears could have damaged her cochlea making her now deaf. The probability of her of not knowing was inevitable. Or, maybe she always was. In a second though Nick would find out as her hand reached the top of the incline and she pulled her body up.

By then he had given up trying to help and he had stood back up to his full height and watched as she took in shallow breaths, her eyes closed. For a minute Nick believed she was going to pass out, but her eyes shot open. She then slowly got back up onto her feet and Nick waited for her to say something to him, for he was already at a lost of words from when he first tried to help her.

But again silence on her part as her eyes got widely frantic as she then began searching the entire area. She was mimicking the same thing he had only done a few moments ago, she looked as though she was searching for his vehicle.

This was ludicrous he wasn't invisible he was standing right here and she was acting as though he wasn't. "I'm right here, I'm okay," he went to wave his hand in front of her face but she then just walked right through him.

Nick stood there with his mouth slightly open. 'I'm dreaming, this can't be real,' as he looked down at his hands. Turning them over, 'I can see myself, I don't understand this.' He then put one hand on top of the other and then touched his chest and looked down at himself. 'How come I can feel myself, I feel the same.' He was now in a full fledge panic, if he was here, that meant only his body was,

"Oh God." He turned around at the sound of the woman's voice. She was looking down at where his vehicle rested. He walked slowly towards her, fear of her walking through him again. He wasn't sure he could take that happening again, not so soon.

Standing next to her, he could see she was looking at every possible way of getting down there, but by her psychical appearance and how badly she appeared to be hurt made it look grim. Apparently she had made that same assessment for she than began yelling down the hill,

"If you can hear me, I'm going to try and get some help. Please just hang on, I'll be back I promise you!" She stood there, hoping to hear some kind of response, but Nick knew better than her, that wasn't possible. He placed his hand in front of her face once more, hoping for some kind of reaction. But he dropped it back down, knowing it was pointless.

"Unbelievable." He muttered.

Then Nick heard the woman take a small sigh. He watched as she closed her eyes take a few deep breaths then turned back around. She looked both ways then picked the direction in which she hoped was the way towards help. He had the urge to stay with her, not wanting to be left alone. But he didn't have much of a choice at the moment. So he watched as she got out of line of sight and he turned back around and looked down the embankment. He knew he had to do something, and that was check and see if he was still breathing if he was still alive.

He began stumbling down the steep hill almost tempted with the idea of just throwing himself down the hill; it wasn't like he could get hurt. But he was too chicken shit to try such a thing. Worried he'd make it worse somehow. He almost let out a laugh to himself. How could it get any worse? He was fucking Casper .

His momentum was stopped abruptly when he reached his vehicle. From the position in which the car was laying on its side, he couldn't see himself in the driver side. He wasn't ready for this. What if he was dead? He wasn't ready to be! Nick wanted to start a family, have the joy of seeing his wife walking down the aisle, to be married as his closest relatives and friends watched.

Then Nick looked up towards the sky that was slowly beginning to show dawn was approaching. He knew if he stood there for much longer and dwelled on it he wouldn't get the courage to look inside. Collecting himself he moved to the front of the vehicle. The front window was busted open, and as he peered in he could see his crumbled body in the drivers' seat still. The seatbelt kept him some what in place as his cheek rested in both dirt and rocks. Nick still couldn't see if he was breathing or not so he started inching closer, and as he did that he started to see clearer how hurt he truly was.

"Oh God, I look like shit."

**TBC…**

_(Hope you all liked it, promise I won't wait a year this time!) _


	3. Chapter 3

**Author Note:** _SEE I didn't take a year this time to update this story! I'm so proud of myself lol, hope you like the new chapter! _

_If you see any mistakes, just close your eyes and reopen them, they won't be there. If they are still there than ignore them they will go away eventually, lol. _

_To _**Mma63, SuzSeb, jdcocogirl**, _thank you for taking the time and reviewing my story much appreciated! _

**Chapter 3**

Brian Wilcox looked at the long road ahead of him. He had been working for twelve hours, he was ready for bed. Not only that, he was done doing this job. In fact after he was done with the load he had to drop off, he was quitting.

He was headed for California and he wasn't going to look back. Done with Las Vegas. Sin City. More like debt City. It seemed such like a great bright idea to move to the city that was an adult playground. Slowly but surely a machine here, a poker table there, a stripper named Trixie and you're hundreds of thousands in the hole. Losing everything you worked so hard for is taken away in just a snap of the fingers.

So while cleaning himself up he decided he had to leave before the city actually killed him. Which he was convinced it was going to do in the long run. This place was not healthy for someone like him.

Blinking his tired itchy red eyes, he thought he saw something in the road. But he decided it must be his mind playing tricks on him. As he grabbed for his coffee he looked down for a moment than back up.

"Jesus Christ."

He slammed on his brakes but it was too late. The momentum he had going was too much for the big rig and since they couldn't stop on a dime, he inevitably ran over what he was trying to avoid.

"Oh no, oh no, oh no." He began chanting under his breath. He couldn't believe this. "Please don't be what I think it is." He began praying his heart out hoping whoever would be listening would take it upon themselves to work a miracle and it be a awfully big deer. Putting on his hazard lights he climbed out of the semi-truck.

Running towards the mangled object he stopped. He took a few steps and he knew right then and there he was going to throw up. Running to the side of the road he lost his lunch.

* * *

Detective Brass stared at what use to be a young blonde woman. At first glance he thought it to be Ellie. They had similar features and just for one second his heart skipped a beat. But he knew she was not in Vegas and more than likely wasn't coming back anytime soon.

"Hey, what do we got?"

Hearing a familiar voice he turned around to see Sara Sidle walking up, along with Warrick Brown.

"I thought the day shift would get this one." Brass spoke, a little surprised to see the nightshift.

"Well courtesy of Ecklie, they were over-loaded with the triple homicide." Warrick replied to Brass's curiosity of them being there.

"Like you're not overloaded with work,' Brass spoke out in defense of the nightshift. When it came to them, he was a bit more protective. Mostly because he use to run the show and not to mention he had more ties with the night crew.

"That's what we told him, but whoever listens?" Sara turned and looked at the dead body, singling the end of the conversation about why they were there.

Brass and Warrick both turned their attention to the victim lying in the road. "Female dead body, apparently the truck driver," pointing to the man using his truck for support by leaning up against it. He definitely looked as though at any moment he was going to be sick, again "didn't see the woman lying in the road and ran her over."

"She had no identification on her so as of right now she's Jane Doe."

Sara nodded her head and wondered where this one was going to take them. "I'll take the body." Sara spoke up. Warrick nodded his head.

"Okay, I'll take the truck and road."

Brass took his cue and left as the two CSI's began investigating the crime scene. Sara had begun to process the scene around the dead woman, taking snapshots of her body. Not allowed to move the body until one of the ME's got there, Sara still looked the body over. There were many cuts and bruises visible on her arms and even face. Her hands were dirty, and scrapped up. Her stockings were ripped with mud caked onto her knees, and her shoes were missing as well. Whoever she was, she was definitely hurting before she died.

From what Sara could see in the way the body was positioned, the scraps did not look like the normal defensive wounds that one would get defending themselves from an attack of some sort. There were no marks as though she had been held down by someone or something. 'How did she get so badly injured and end up here.'

Warrick walked back over to Sara who was looking down at the ground around the victim's body. "So what are you thinking?"

"I don't know, it looks like a typical body dump, but of all places…why here? Why not try and hide her better?" Sara shook her head, "Something is off and I can't place my finger on it."

Sara Sidle looked off into the distance, her mind racing and wondering, 'who are you, and where did you come from?"

(20 miles away)

Nick Stokes was almost in a state of panic. He wasn't dead, but he wasn't alive either. He was stuck in limbo, between both worlds and he was in a state of confusion. There wasn't an actual guide book to escape from this kind of hellish nightmare.

When he had seen himself he was at awe in his own appearance. At first he thought himself to be dead, and that terrified him beyond belief. But he then noticed the steady rise and fall of his own chest. So after he confirmed he was still alive, he started questioning himself. How this could have happened to him? Was this normal? How does one step back into their very own body? Is there coming back from this, and if he did, would he remember this?

Then the denial began to creep in it's ugly head. Nick began believing it was all a dream. He would at any moment wake up in his bedroom. Sweating and a desire to drink a lot of water but nonetheless, safe and comfortable in his very own bed.

But the nightmare just continued on and no matter how much he wished and willed himself awake it wasn't happening. He was struck in his own personal hell, and it looked as though he wasn't going to escape from it.

He sat by his vehicle wondering what he could do. There was always hope that the

woman would flag somebody down, or she got to a phone and they were able to get a rescue team in and voila, he's saved!

Then slowly Nick got a bad feeling he couldn't place, one where you tried to put your finger on it but just couldn't quite grasp it. What if she didn't make it? What if she died from the internal bleeding she most likely sustained from the car crash? He'd eventually succumb to his wounds and that meant he'd never be discovered, and nobody would ever know what happened to him.

It didn't take much too visualize the box with his name on it, and being put on the shelf with countless others that were also unsolved cold case files. The horror of never knowing what happened to one of your loved one is not something Nick was willing to put his family through, or his coworkers. He could only imagine what it was like for families that would never find out what happened to somebody they loved. Knowing this wasn't an option he decided he had to at least try. It never hurt to at least try, and it wasn't like it could get any worse.

Nick sighed and looked up at the hill, not having much of a desire to walk up it again. Closing his eyes he imagined himself anywhere but there. Sara was the first person that popped into his mind. He could picture her with that usual stoic look on her face, always thinking. But when a soft smile would form on her face, it would lighten her entire appearance making Nick himself want to grin.

Knowing that wishing himself somewhere else was childish because it didn't achieve a damn thing. Nick reopened his eyes ready for the task ahead of him. Only he was no longer near or by his vehicle. In fact, there wasn't a tree in sight.

"This is getting trippy."

He was staring at a long road that went straight and at first Nick was convinced this was the light everyone was talking about. 'Funny, always thought it look more heavenly not like the Nevada desert.' Then it hit him. Nick recognized the road. It was the in the direction towards the state park, and where his body and vehicle was located.

Turning around his eyes widen when he recognized two very important people in his life. Sara Sidle and Warrick Brown what looked to be processing a scene. He wanted nothing more than to run over to them, find some way to get their attention, tell them how badly he needed their help. But he knew it was completely fruitless. Jogging over to cover the space quicker he began to slow down to make sure when he walked up nobody walked through him. As long as he could help it, Nick was definitely not fond of people being capable of going through him. It made him feel as though he was no longer alive and he was some kind of mishap ghost.

Nick got his mind off of it by looking down at the scene they were almost done with. The body was being moved so that meant the coroner had released the body. Nick first spotted the blonde hair and if he could feel it, he pretty much knew his gut would have dropped right then and there. It was the woman from the car crash. She didn't make it.

Her eyes were closed and she had a pain expression written across her features. She looked different from the last time Nick had seen her. It was gruesomely obvious she had passed out from the agony of her wounds, and the semi, not seeing her in time, had ran right over her. That also meant if she was here, she had not gotten help; Nick was on his own.

Nick's thought process was interrupted when Sara walked up to Warrick. "I'm going to head over to her house, maybe I'll find some clues there."

"Okay, I'll go with the body see what they can tell me." Warrick responded walking away.

Nick was at a lost as to who to follow. Both were going there separate ways and that meant he had to choose. He looked at both and a sense of frustration came over him. This couldn't be happening, nobody knew he was standing right there! With all his emotions running full force he turned and yelled,

'SARA!"

He couldn't believe it, she stopped. It had to be some kind of coincidence, he just did it at the right time and she was about to turn around and say something to Warrick. But she stood there almost as she was listening. With a shake of her head as though she just discredited herself, she continued on her way.

Nick knew it was his only chance. He didn't have much to lose, and if there was some slight possibility she had heard him then he had to try. Nick got into the back seat of the vehicle that held Sara and Detective Brass. Shaking his head, knowing nobody could hear him, it still made Nick feel better by simply saying, "Let's get this show on the road." As though they were responding to him, Brass put the squad car into drive and they took off away from the crime scene. Leaving the only connection Nick had to the car crash behind them in a body bag.

**TBC…**

_Love to hear from you,..until next time ;) _


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